Gran Carole Wall had a heart condition and the stress of seeing paranoid Kevin Chambers may have brought on a heart attack, court is told

A PARANOID drug addict wielding a hammer caused “sheer terror” that killed a 58-year-old hairdresser when he beat on her patio door, a court heard.

High on a massive cocktail of heroin and cocaine and clutching a claw hammer Kevin Chambers, 37, beat on Carol Wall’s patio door of strangers and ranted that a man with a gun was after him.

Mrs Wall, 57, a grandmother and hairdresser, collapsed as she dialled 999 for police - and was dead on arrival in hospital.

Her husband Peter Wall, a 58-year-old driver, was too upset to attend Caernarfon crown court yesterday when Chambers was jailed for two years.

Chambers pleaded guilty to having an offensive weapon, the claw hammer, and damaging the patio door.

Judge David Hale said: “As far as he is concerned you murdered his wife, in law you haven’t.”

Other members of the family were in the public seats and afterwards they praised the judge for his comments and said they understood he was limited by law in the sentence he could pass.

Prosecuting, Oliver King described how Chambers had discharged himself from hospital after surgery for septicaemia and became paranoid on heroin and cocaine believing he was being pursued by a man with a gun.

At 11.30 at night in September last year Mr and Mrs Wall and their 41-year-old son Neal were at their home in St David’s Road, Llandudno and were relaxing downstairs when they heard banging and a voice shouting: “He’s trying to kill me. He’s got a gun.”

They were terrified at seeing Chambers with a claw hammer and Mrs Wall collapsed as she dialled 999.

Unknown to her, Mrs Wall had a pre-existing heart valve condition and it was highly likely that the stress had brought about the

heart attack, said Mr King. She was dead on arrival at Glan Clwyd Hospital.

When police arrived Chambers was still agitated and was taken to hospital because of his septicaemia and kept in for a fortnight.

He’d told police he believed he was being chased by a man with a gun and ran towards the house to seek help.

Mr King said since that night Mr Wall and Neal had not felt able to return to the house. In a victim statement Mr Wall called Carole, with whom he had just celebrated their 38th wedding anniversary, was the only person he’d ever loved.

The barrister said Chambers had 20 previous convictions for 37 offences, mostly for shoplifting and handling stolen goods, though while on bail in January he’d been given a four weeks suspended sentence by JPs for punching someone in Sainsbury’s at Llandudno and stealing a Satnav.

Defence counsel Andrew Ford said Chambers had been shocked to discover that Mrs Wall had died, was “profoundly sorry” and appeared genuinely remorseful.

After stupidly discharging himself from hospital, he became paranoid, confused, erratic and demanding help. He had not made any

threats and after six months on remand was now receiving methadone to wean himself off drugs.

A probation officer told the judge that Chambers had explained he’d been hallucinating and “looking for help”.

Judge Hale pointed out that if, instead of drugs, Chambers had drunk two bottles of whisky and become hopelessly drunk, that wouldn’t be mitigation. In his sentencing, he had to take the consequences of Chambers’ actions into account.

Judge Hale sentenced Chambers to a month for damaging the door and a concurrent two years for having the weapon. He took into account the consequences and Mrs Wall’s accelerated death.

He said: “Mr Wall is devastated by the loss of his beloved wife of 38 years and will never forgive you. As far as he is

concerned you have murdered his wife, in law you have not.”

Outside the court Mrs Wall’s brother Andrew Nelson said: “The greatest tragedy is that Carole was the most gentle, loving and giving person. To her, an act of violence was abhorrent. We are extremely grateful to the judge for his remarks.”

Carole’s sister Janine Roberts said: “We will never think that real justice has been done, but understand that the judge is constrained by the law and we are very grateful to him.”

The family said they were also grateful for all the support they had received, including from the media.

At an inquest last March a Home Office pathologist said Mrs Wall had “severe” heart disease and would have been at risk of sudden death. “In my view she wouldn’t have died when she did if this incident hadn’t occurred,” he added . “She may have carried on for many, many years.”

WalesOnline is part of Media Wales, publisher of the Western Mail, South Wales Echo, Wales on Sunday and the seven Celtic weekly titles, offering you unique access to our audience across Wales online and in print.